Spain has committed to building an ambitious high-speed rail network — part of an overall decision to prioritize public transportation investments over highway spending. The country’s crisis will severely test its ability to achieve its ambitions, but it is providing leadership that the United States–confronted with crumbling infrastructure and over-reliance on automobiles–could learn from.

In the midst of a deep economic crisis, public investment in intercity rail and urban transit is seen as a way to kickstart languishing economies, and to create jobs in both manufacturing and operating public transportation systems. That’s true even in the United States, which for decades has neglected rail and transit even as the federal government has invested huge sums of money in highways and air travel infrastructure. The economic stimulus program offers close to $18 billion for urban transit and intercity passenger rail systems. It could be the start to a revival of U.S. rail manufacturing and associated jobs.